August 7, 2019
An open letter to
Mr. Robert Loia, Principal, Cardinal Newman School
Most Rev. Robert E. Gugliemone, Bishop of the Diocese of Charleston
Mrs. Sandra Leatherwood, Superintendent of Catholic Schools, Diocese of Charleston
Mrs. Jacqualine Kasprowski, Associate Director for Secondary Education, Diocese of Charleston
Very Rev. Canon Gary S. Linsky, V. F., Rector, The Basilica of Saint Peter
Mrs. Audrey Wall, St. Peter’s Catholic School, Principal
Fr. Sandy McDonald, Pastor, St. John Neumann Catholic Church
Mr. Ronald Poles, Principal, St. John Neumann Catholic School
Rev. Msgr. Richard D. Harris, V.G., Pastor, St. Joseph Catholic Church
Mr. Donovan Yarnall, St. Joseph Catholic School
Fr. Michael C. Okere, Pastor, St. Martin de Porres Catholic Church
Mrs. Delores Gilliard, Principal, St. Martin de Porres Catholic School
Mrs. María del Mar Muñoz-Visoso, Executive Director of the Secretariat of Cultural Diversity in the
Church, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
Mrs. Valerie E. Washington, Executive Director, National Black Catholic Congress
Members of the Cardinal Newman School Community
The following comments are the sentiments of African American and other concerned parents within
the Cardinal Newman community.
As reported in The State newspaper and later in an email to parents from the Cardinal Newman
administration on August 2, 2019, a student made violent threats against African Americans,
derogatively referred to as “niggers.” The videos that have circulated are both scary and disturbing.
They also clearly demonstrate that the student had the means to carry out his threats to “shoot up
the school.” There is no doubt that the sentiments were meant for the African American students
within the school.
We live in a time when acts of racist violence are prominent. Our society is brewing with
undercurrents of racial animus, and African Americans and other people of color must fear for the
safety of our families. However, we did not expect to have such a direct threat within our school.
While the school learned of the threats in mid-July, parents did not learn of them until early August.
In a letter from Principal Loia sent to the community on Sunday, August 4, 2019, he stated that the
“school leadership team and/or diocesan officials” did not believe the school community was in
danger thus did not feel the need to communicate with us.
Let us be clear: the school administrators and diocesan leadership let their position of white privilege
cloud their judgment. They do not have the right to make a decision as to when our children may or
may not be in danger following such a clearly documented desire for harm. This position of white
privilege led the administration to believe they could make that decision for us.
The letter of August 4th also indicated that “threat had been neutralized.” This is simply not the case.
One student has been removed from the school, but his willingness to share his actions with other
students within the school leads us to believe that there is a budding, if not vibrant, culture accepting
of his views.
In fact, concerns about the racist actions of students, administrators, and teachers or staff have been
routinely dismissed over the years. White privilege has allowed and continues to allow members of
the school community to discount, downplay, or even misrepresent the feelings and concerns of
people of color. White privilege often attempts to mute our voices when we ask issues of diversity
and inclusion to be addressed. However, after watching the videos of this student, our voices will
not be silenced.
The history of silencing our concerns has led some members of our community to say that they were
unaware of racial animus within the school community. Hear us now and believe us when we tell you
that our children are the targets of and witnesses to hurtful, racially motivated speech and behavior
from members of this community.
For some in the Cardinal Newman community it may be easy to watch the videos we saw and say
that “he was just joking” or deny that he is a racist because “he has Black friends” or, even worse,
that he did it for “shock value.” But he didn’t laugh. In fact, he thanked viewers for watching. History
clearly documents that lynching people of color is used as a form of entertainment, and this is not in
the distant past. In 2011 in Jackson, Mississippi, a group of white men and women in their 20s killed
James Craig Anderson when they ran over him with a truck. They had a history of attacking groups
of Black people with slingshots and bottles for sport.
Be clear on this: someone else’s joke can have dire, even fatal, outcomes for others and sorry is not
enough.
Members of the African American community of Cardinal Newman FEEL this threat in a real way
today. OUR children were the intended targets of his “joke.” We are confident that had an African
American child threatened to kill all of the white children of the school, issues of confidentiality would
have been abandoned and action swift in notifying the community. There have been other situations
of lesser significance where the community was notified immediately through robo-call, email, and
text. So, why a change in policy now?
We are also concerned because as became clear in a meeting with Principal Loia on August 5,
2019, the student had been allowed to withdraw from the school rather than face expulsion. While
the administration moved swiftly to remove the student from the school community, it failed to fully
hold him accountable for his actions by allowing him to leave without a disciplinary action on his
academic transcript. This is unacceptable.
Further, removing one student from the school does nothing to address the root causes leading to
racist ideology. The former student and community with whom he felt comfortable sharing these
videos were socialized both in and outside the walls of this school. What comments did the students
who received the videos make about them? How are other students responding? How many of them
have been dismissive and support the student who made the threat? How do such comments make
our students, especially our African American students (and families) feel about their level of support
and safety among their peers?
We are thankful that one parent was vigilant enough to speak up and bring this situation to light. Yet,
we are concerned about the subsequent actions taken by the school.
The investigation into this incident involved a number of other students who received the videos via
a group messaging app. At least one of these students may have had the most violent threat, the
video in which the student threatened to shoot up the school, in his possession since sometime in
May. As of August 5th, this student had not been interviewed by school officials (though his parents
had) and he remains enrolled at Cardinal Newman. The cyber bullying policy in the school’s
handbook clearly states,
In a school where integrity matters, students and employees who are bystanders or witnesses have
a RESPONSIBILITY to demonstrate compassionate support for the targeted person and to report
dangerous behaviors and/or situations to appropriate school personnel (p. 44).
The failure to report this incident immediately not only endangered the lives of all members of the
Cardinal Newman community it also constituted a serious breach of the school’s discipline policies,
and as such, should be met with an appropriate disciplinary response. The school’s failure to
address this student’s involvement in these events, in particular, has left many parents in the
uncomfortable position of having to decide whether it is safe for their children to return to Cardinal
Newman on August 20th when the new academic year begins. To assuage these concerns, we
strongly recommend that the school administration remove this student, and any others who may
have had knowledge of this video, from the school community before the beginning of the school
year.
Despite the fact that the student who made these videos is connected to a family with long, deep
political and financial connections within the State of South Carolina, their position of prominence
should not shield this young man from increased scrutiny and accountability within the justice
system. Nor should the family backgrounds or connections of students who received these
messages and did not report them shield them from disciplinary action by the school.
As administrators, whether religious or political within the school and larger community, you have a
responsibility to speak up and educate the entire community that racism is not a Black person’s
issue. The policies often taken for granted by the larger society contribute to systematic forms of
racism in our schools, churches, and extended community. This issue requires acknowledgment of a
problem by the majority white community within our schools and neighborhoods and a true
commitment to speak the truth and act on the side of justice.
The initial letter from Principal Loia to parents emphasized efforts to maintain the security of the
school building and to work with law enforcement when threats arose. In closing, let us outline
immediate and long-term well researched, high-impact practices that go beyond campus security:
1. The school should address both the emotional and physical safety of students in the aftermath of
this incident. Students who make light of the incident may, in fact, be deeply anxious about what
transpired and are just posturing. The school should create opportunities and safe spaces for
students to talk about their fears under the guidance of a licensed counselor.
2. The school should hold an in-school meeting at the beginning of the year to address with students
what happened and the impact on the community and to name the behaviors as racist,
unacceptable, harmful, un-Christian, and antithetical to Catholic teaching. In addition, the school
should review the standards for behavior and safety for all students and the expectations related to
respect of others and the obligation to report bullying and threatening words or actions to persons in
authority. Ignoring what happened will create MORE harm to our children and gives a pass to others
to behave in dangerous ways.
3. Implicit bias training should be incorporated into the professional development training for all
faculty and staff for staff development days at the beginning of the 2018-2019 school year. The
focus would include going beyond "what is bias" to include recognizing biased behaviors in
self/others, training on how to address biased words/actions on school grounds/events from a
developmental perspective, and understanding the impact of bias on students both short and
long-term.
4. Administrators and all theology faculty should participate in continuing education programs offered
by the Institute of Black Catholic Studies at Xavier University in New Orleans, Louisiana, beginning
this academic year. Alternately, the school and the diocese should contract with the Institute of Black
Catholic Studies to design and deliver professional development for all religious education teachers
in the diocese.
5. The school should develop opportunities for Cardinal Newman students to travel to Montgomery,
Alabama, to engage in co-curricular learning at the Lynching Memorial, Civil Rights Memorial, and
other social justice sites that speak to a recent legacy of hatred in the United States and subsequent
acts of justice to address acts of racial injustice.
6. The entire school community should read and study the United States Conference of Catholic
Bishops’ 2018 pastoral letter against racism, Open Wide Our Hearts: The Enduring Call to Love.
Age-appropriate study materials should be obtained to effectively incorporate this letter into all
theology classes. Themes from this letter should inform homilies delivered at school Masses
throughout the academic year.
7. The administration should invite professionals to assist in curriculum development to create an
inclusive curriculum where the contributions and experiences of racial/ethnic minorities and women
in history, the sciences, mathematics, literature, and the Catholic faith, among others, are
represented.
8. The school should hire a full time Dean of Diversity and Inclusion responsible for regular oversight
of the curriculum and to work in conjunction with the assistant vice principal for professional
development. Moreover, this position would also work with elementary school administrators and
community members so that diversity and inclusion is integrated into curriculum of elementary and
middle schools serving prospective students. As a result, students in the feeder schools will also be
socialized in a diverse environment and prepared to enter into Cardinal Newman with an
understanding of the school’s commitment to diversity and inclusion.
9. The school should create a Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Council to work in tandem with the
Dean of Diversity. This council will comprise parents and interested community stakeholders to
safely speak to the needs of the youth without fear of retaliation.
10. The school administration, in conjunction with the Office of Education for the Diocese of
Charleston, should develop and implement a strategic plan to recruit, hire, and retain a diverse
faculty and staff representative of the student body. Our students often comment that the only paid
staff of color are the custodial staff. Other than a recent faculty hire, there is a negligible
representation of African American and Latino faculty on campus. This is unacceptable.
11. The school should obtain the services of an external consultant with the input of parents and the
Institute of Black Catholic Studies to conduct focus groups among our students. The outcome of
these focus groups will be a campus climate report written with the administration and the advisory
committee.
12. The school should hold any and all staff, past and present, accountable for their actions or
failure to act in a way that limited transparency and placed our families at risk. Is the way this
situation was and continues to be handled consistent with the message of the Catholic Church and
the teachings of Christ to "love your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22: 34-40), without any caveats
attached to this directive?
